On Friday congressmen Steve King and Ted Cruz proposed the Expatriate Terrorist Act which would revoke citizenship for those who merely attempt to join a foreign terrorist organization, not just those who actually succeed at doing so. But that’s not all.
The bill unveiled by King and Cruz is far-reaching and would also revoke citizenship for reasons such as, but not limited to, providing “training or material assistance to a foreign terrorist organization” or taking an oath to a foreign terrorist organization.
Ironically, the King and Cruz bill would also revoke citizenship for those who attempt “by force to overthrow, or bearing arms against, the United States” and those who “engage in a conspiracy to overthrow” the United States.
There are certainly domestic terrorists and wannabe domestic terrorists who are guilty of these things. Will we revoke their citizenship?
I don’t think we should revoke anyone’s citizenship, but if we’re going to do so I believe the policy should be applied equally to all terrorists.
If we’re being honest, the Cruz and King bill is clearly aimed at Islamic terrorists, not right wing terrorists. The language of the bill could easily be applied to domestic terrorists, but including them would mean including some of Cruz and King’s constituents.